Today Yamaha introduced the new XT1200Z. A touring bike for the "adventure" market. Obviously targeted at the BMW R1200GS and other liter dual sport bikes.

Unfortunately, it got a little bit heavy with around 260kg. Hopefully this includes the side cases and the other fancy stuff which might be optional when the bike's on the market for a while. Nothing new regarding when it will be coming to the US market, I bet not before 2011, though. We'll see.

The nice things I really like, are:

• shaft drive
• water cooled engine
• spoked wheels with tubeless tires
• probably acceptable wind protection
• side cases at least seem okay
• well known parts, the shaft comes probably from the FJR, the engine looks a bit like a bigger TDM, so there shouldn't be too many problems

I really like the concept, though the weight is pretty bad. An R1200GS Adventure weighs about the same but has a 50% larger tank. An R1200RT weighs a bit less but has a 50% larger fairing. Nevertheless, it might carry the weight low and therefore be not too bad. Hopefully they'll have demo units when the bike comes to the US.